Your Guide To A Guilt Free Christmas

Christmas is Such an exciting time! 🎅🏼 Presents to buy, trees to decorate and most importantly, Christmas parties to attend! ✨

During most of December there are so many temptations everywhere you go. 🍫Shops are full of treats, cakes and biscuits and somehow the pretty Christmas wrappers make them more tempting. 🍪

We've decided to help you get through the festive season, guilt free. Here are our top tips to survive December and how to get back on track when all else fails. 💪🏼

Drinking Tips

1. Avoid fizzy drinks as mixer - These are high in sugar and ultimately are bad for your health and teeth! Instead opt for soda water and a squeeze of fresh lime. 🍋

2. Stick to clear spirits - The darker the spirt, the more chemicals it'll hold and therefore the worse your hangover will be! So do yourself a favour and stick to clear spirits. 🤢

3. Water. Alcohol. Water. - That hungover feeling you get the day after drinking is most likely caused by dehydration. So in between each alcoholic drink make sure you down a glass of water. This will help you to stay hydrated and will ease your morning hangover. 💧

4. Avoid free refills - Even if you aren't drinking alcohol there are still pitfalls to avoid. Fizzy drinks are high in sugar and with free refills it can be hard to keep track of how much you are drinking. With just one medium glass of coke clocking in at around 150 cals it can be easy for the, to start adding up. 😲

Eating Tips

1. Stock up on healthy snacks - If you're planning a night out on the town, make sure you have lots of healthy snacks ready when you get home. This will stop you from getting tempted by Christmas goodies when the late night drink induced munchies start! 🍎

2. Never skip meals - The thing people do most often at Christmas, especially before an event or party, is to not eat all dat to try and 'save up' some calories for later. But the truth is that by doing this you actually increase your cancellation of cravings and these cravings usually come in the form of sugary snacks! The best thing is to focus on eating healthily throughout the day to reduce the chances of a snack attack mid-afternoon. 🙊

3. Decode the menu - If it says 'battered', 'deep fried', 'crispy', 'au gratin', 'braised, 'buttered', 'creamed'. 'escalloped' or 'a la creme' then skip it. Instead go for 'grilled', 'steamed, 'baked', 'chargrilled' or 'pouched'. Sauces and dressings are often high in saturated fat and calories so either opt not to have them or ask for them on the side so you can control how much is on your meal. 🙅🏻‍♀️

4. Never go out hungry - One of the best ways to make sure you avoid giving into your cravings or impulse decisions when eating out is to make sure you don't go out hungry. At Christmas especially before an event or party, people tend to not eat at all all day to try and 'save up' calories for later. But the truth is all it does is increase your chance of cravings. Eating properly throughout the day and having a simple snack like an apple of handful of nuts before you go out will help you choose healthy options. 🍏

Work

1. Join in with the festive fun - If your colleagues insist on bringing in lots of chocolates and biscuits throughout December, why not make your own healthy versions to take in? That way you can still join in with everyone, stay safe in the knowledge you aren't undoing any of your hard work. 👍🏼

2. Beat cravings - Do you find yourself craving snacks throughout the day? Protein makes you feel fuller for longer, so always include a form of protein in your meal and snacks. Good sources of protein include chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, quinoa, nuts, seeds and greek yoghurt. Avoid eating sugary foods as snacks, as there will cause your blood sugar levels to fluctuate throughout the day - and you know what that means - more cravings for sugary snacks. 🍳

3. Exercise your will power - Remember, just because something is there doesn't mean you have to have it. The 'joy' of eating lots of biscuits ,chocolates, cakes etc only lasts 5 minutes. However the joy of feeling healthy, full of energy and focused on your goals (plus not feeling uncomfortable or bloated) will last for a lot longer. So just because your colleague is binging doesn't mean you have to. 💁🏻‍♀️

4. Stay hydrated - Throughout the day your body can often confuse thirst with hunger so staying hydrated will stop unnecessary snacking. Sip water throughout the day rather than gulp lots lots down none go and if you don't like plain water try adding a squeeze of lemon or lime to give it some flavour.

Exercise

1. Schedule your exercises - Make sure you put your workouts in your diary a week or two in advance so that you stick to them and plan your social activities around your workouts. If your Christmas party falls on a day your due to exercise make sure you make up for it the day before or the day after. 🏋🏽‍♀️

2. Find a training partner - Find a friend or family to become your Results with Lucy training partner. Set a schedule for exercising through December with them. Its always hard to find an excuse to skip a workout when you've got a partner who is counting on you. Agree with each other the approach you will take if one of you tries to cancel... lots of inspiration and motivation with a tiny bit go 'guilt' usually helps. 👯‍♀️

3. Don't quit early - Exercising and staying healthy shouldn't be a fad. Its a lifestyle. So don't quit exercising for the whole of December. Keep up your routine so that you can enjoy a few weeks 'off' our Christmas and New Year, all guilt free. 📅

The Christmas Bloat

1. Be kind to your digestive system - Bloating is usually caused by irritation of the digestive system. Drinking water helps improve digestion so make sure you sip water throughout the day. Avoid drinking ad eating lots of sugary food and drink as this can irritate the digestive system further. Top tip: Drinking warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice will improve your body digestion even more! So integrate these into your daily intake. 🍋

2. Don't get caught up in the rush - Often bloating might not be caused by what you're eating, but by how quickly you're eating. Always sit down to eat and take your time to enjoy each mouthful. Don't get up and rush off as soon as you finish either. It can be exhausting getting everything on your Christmas list done but be sure to take time out when you need to. Your digestive system goes into 'sleep mode' when your body is flooded with stress hormones, which will make your blowing worse. 😷